People around the world are worried about the increasing spread of a seemingly unknown virus in China and now health organisations have also come forward to express the same.?
China has now officially confirmed human-to-human transmission in the outbreak of the new SARS-like virus as the number of cases soared. Chinese authorities quoted by news agency AFP said on Tuesday that a fourth person had died due to the outbreak.
Meanwhile, India has also issued fresh instructions with regards to the outbreak and has sent guidelines to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and other international airports. These guidelines are aimed to screen travellers for Corona virus. All those who are travelling from China to India will be screened using thermal scanners, sources said. Ministry has also advised citizens travellers to take precautions in order to avoid exposure to virus.
The news came as the World Health Organization said it would consider declaring an international public health emergency over the outbreak.
The coronavirus, which has spread to three other Asian countries and infected more than 200 people in China, has caused alarm because of its genetic similarities to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
The discovery of human-to-human transmission comes as hundreds of millions of people are criss-crossing the country in packed buses, trains and planes this week to celebrate the Lunar New Year with relatives.
Enhanced screening measures including fever checks have been set up at airports in Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and the United States, with particular attention on arrivals from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Health authorities there, where a seafood market has been identified as the centre of the outbreak, said Tuesday that an 89-year-old man became the fourth person to die from the virus and that 15 medical staff had been infected.
A second case was also confirmed in Shanghai on Tuesday, while five people have been diagnosed with the illness in Beijing. The virus has also reached Japan, Thailand and South Korea, with four people hospitalised after visiting Wuhan.
A man showing symptoms of the disease who had travelled to the Chinese city has been put in isolation in Australia as health officials await test results, authorities said.
Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at China's national health commission, confirmed that the virus was being transmitted between humans, state media reported late Monday.
The WHO had previously identified animals as the likely primary source, but had warned of "some limited human-to-human transmission". It?said a key emergency committee would meet Wednesday to determine whether to declare an international public health emergency.
The agency has only used the rare label a handful of times, including during the H1N1 -- or swine flu -- pandemic of 2009 and the Ebola epidemic that devastated parts of West Africa from 2014 to 2016.
The number of people hit by the new coronavirus is expected to rise, especially with increased monitoring and testing for the disease.
Doctors at the University of Hong Kong released a study on Tuesday estimating that there have been 1,343 cases of the new virus in Wuhan. Scientists at Imperial College in London said last week the number was likely closer to 1,700.
With AFP Inputs/Images